Chapter 3 - August 16th, 1979

Di warned Sandy on the morning of her first shift at Lawson's Family Grocer that their initial training session would have an audience. "Mr. Lawson isn't usually around but he wants to make sure you're okay before officially hiring you," she said, putting the loop of a blue apron over Sandy's head. "Tie that," she instructed. "He's trying to look like he's a hands-on kind of owner, and so he'll be hanging around today." Di straightened up, appraised Sandy and her apron, and clapped her hands together. "Looks great. The first thing I'll do is show you how to bag stuff. That's about as exciting as it gets around here."

They waited at the register for about fifteen minutes for a customer to come through. Eventually, a woman and her son walked up, laden down with a cart full of food. "Okay, great," Di said, glancing at Mr. Lawson, a portly man with a mustache who was unconvincingly pretending to straighten out a rack of magazines. "So, you're going to want to put everything into one of four groups and put things in the same group together. "Produce," she said, grabbing a bag of apples, "colds," she pointed at the milk and some frozen vegetables, "meat, but she doesn't have any, and then pantry stuff." Di indicated a box of animal crackers. "I'll scan, and you put everything into bags."

While Sandy stuffed items from the four groups into their own separate paper bags, Di chatted charmingly to the lady, who was watching Sandy's progress warily. It wasn't hard work, but Sandy felt oddly under pressure with the shopper, Di, and Mr. Lawson watching her. Get it together, she told herself, taking a deep breath. It's putting food into bags. You're not totally incompetent. She exhaled and managed to smile at the shopper's child, who was whining to his mother about wanting candy.

Once the woman had left, the phone started ringing in the back and Mr. Lawson wandered off to answer it. Di turned to Sandy and grinned. "See? Totally easy, right? Mr. Lawson didn't seem to have a problem with you, either. I've seen him rip the bags out of someone's hands because he didn't think they were going fast enough."

Sandy rolled her eyes. "If he's so particular, why can't he just do it all himself?"

"Well, that would seriously cut into his afternoon television shows," Di giggled. "Anyway, it's much lower stakes here usually. He only ever shows up when someone new starts, when he gets to fire somebody, or when he wants to pick up something to eat for dinner." She looked expectantly at Sandy. "So what do you think?"

"It seems like fun." Sandy smiled. "Really, thanks for working this out for me. You didn't have to do that. You don't even really know me."

Di waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. It'll be a nice change around here. The usual crowd is high school boys who think they're casanovas because they play on the first line of their hockey team. We're going to have a lot of fun, trust me."

They spent the rest of the morning working between the cash register and stocking shelves. Sometime around noon, Mr. Lawson came out from behind the end of the aisle where the girls were standing, straightening cans to make their labels face outward. "Well, ladies, I think I might head out," he said, patting himself on the belly. "Got a few errands to run before I go home. Think you'll be able to hold down the fort?" He raised his eyebrows at Di, whose laugh echoed around the almost completely empty store.

"I think we can handle it," she replied. "Will Sandy be coming back from now on?"

Mr. Lawson took a moment to really consider this. "I think that's a great idea," he said finally. "You can sort it out on the calendar, right?" He seemed to be addressing both of them.

"No problem," Di said, and Sandy nodded.

After he had gone and the girls had sorted out the days that Sandy would come in (Di worked it out so the two of the would be working together more often than not, and the rest of the time was given to working with another store employee, a woman named Charlotte who Di described as "a real bag") Di lead Sandy to the office, which was situated near the front of the store with a large window from which to watch for customers. She wriggled out of her apron. "This thing always chafes the back of my neck," she said.

Sandy pulled hers off, too, and rubbed the spot where the stiff neck strap had been rubbing uncomfortably. "So this is working, huh?"

Di flopped down in the desk chair and nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. We've got another..." she glanced up at the clock and winced, "three and a half hours of this. Hopefully we get a lot more people in, huh?" As Sandy hopped up on the desk, Di yanked open one of the desk drawers and rooted around inside. "There used to be a deck of cards here, and sometimes I'd play Fish with whoever I was working with, but I think Mr. Lawson found them and took them away."

"Why?"

"Oh, that might have been a little too much fun," Di replied, closing the drawer and grinning up and Sandy. "We'll figure something out. What are you doing tonight after this? Do you want to come see another movie?"

Sandy, who had been reaching into rooms and turning the light on before entering ever since seeing the Amityville Horror a few weeks before, was not especially excited to go see another scary movie. She was glad to have already made plans to go for a run. "Jenny has to go to the school to do some stuff tonight, and so I'm going with her and running at the track for a little while. Do you wanna come do that instead?"

Di scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Isn't it boring out there all by yourself? I wanted to do distance running in high school because I wanted legs like yours," she said, pointing. "But whenever I got out there I would always want to go do something else, and so I would, because running is terrible."

Sandy laughed. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. I've been there a few times since I moved and the first time I had to stop every few minutes because I couldn't figure out why I was still running. But now I just shut my mind off and go, like in high school."

"If you say so," Di said, shaking her head. "Is there ever anybody else out there when you go?"

"Nope," Sandy said. "Which is nice. Guess nobody wants to get into shape in Minnesota."

Di swatted her with a nearby newspaper. "Yeah, they're all going to movies at night like normal people do."

Later that night, Sandy sat in the passenger seat as Jenny drove down the bumpy and untended road leading to the parking lot next to the track. The track itself was somewhat overgrown, the dirt on it punctuated by the odd patch of thick grass. "Is this really it? I never thought anyone used this thing," Jenny said.

Sandy nodded, pulling her old track shoes on and bending awkwardly in the front seat to tie them. "It's a little rough, but it works. The upside is that I'm all by myself. So, you're just going to be over there in the school?"

"Yep." Jenny jabbed her thumb in the direction of the middle school, located on the other end of the field. "Just there. I think there should be janitors in there right now, so maybe if you get done early, you can just bang on the door they'll let you in if you say you know me."

"I might just wait here until you're done," Sandy said, pulling a face.

Jenny laughed. "I shouldn't be too long. I just have to drop this stuff off in my classroom and organize a few things. I don't need to have anything set up until a few weeks before September," she said, catching Sandy about to ask. "I just like to have things out of the way so I don't have to worry about it. Otherwise I panic." She grinned. "You know a little something about that, growing up with Will."

Sandy feigned deep thought. "Hmm, maybe. I seem to remember being a part of the audience for some pretty significant breakdowns when he was in high school. I could be wrong, though. That might have been my secret, other brother."

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to meet him. Maybe he'll be the easy-going one." Jenny laughed. She noticed Sandy gazing in the direction of the track, and so she said, "okay, get going, champ. Have fun."

"Talk to you later," Sandy said, pushing the car door open and stepping out. "You have fun organizing."

Jenny grinned at her and drove off.

Once she had gone, Sandy propped her leg up on the lone bench near the track and stretched, enjoying the feeling of the warm wind on the back of her neck. She started out slowly, walking half a lap before starting to run. Although she had been there a few times and the sensation was starting to go away, Sandy felt awkward and oddly aware of her arms at the beginning of her runs. After a while, though, she allowed her mind to shut off and she felt more at ease and started to remember why she enjoyed running in the first place.

She had almost done five laps before another car pulled up. As she went around a curve on the track that provided her with a view of the parking lot, Sandy saw that it wasn't Jenny. A guy got out, wearing sweats and a t-shirt with "UMD" printed across it, and holding a pair of sneakers with a sports bottle stuffed inside one of them by their laces. He crossed through the grass from where he'd parked, heading towards the track.

Immediately Sandy felt self-conscious. The guy sat on the bench and bent to tie his shoes, and Sandy took the opportunity to study him as she passed. He definitely looked athletic. He was lean but somewhat muscular, and had the generally self-assured way of carrying himself that people who were good at sports tended to have. He had brown eyes and a strong chin, like a politician or a television personality. Suddenly he glanced up, catching her looking. Their eyes met, and he smiled at her. Sandy quickly turned her head to face front again, trying to remember how long it had been since Jenny dropped her off and wondering when she would be coming back.

A few moments later, and presumably after waiting until Sandy was a far enough distance around the track to not make it seem as if he was just chasing her, the guy hopped up from the bench, bounced on his toes a few times, and took off. He had a nice, long stride, and it became clear to Sandy, far away as she was, that he was going to pass her. As Sandy heard him coming up behind her, somewhat unexpectedly, she felt an old competitive feeling surge in her chest. All at once she was pushing herself to keep ahead of this stranger, and by the time she rounded the next corner and dared to look, he was about forty feet behind her. It was, of course, impossible for her to maintain what was essentially an all-out sprint for too long, and soon she was able to hear the guy gaining on her once again.

He passed her, taking the opportunity to turn his head just slightly and grin at her as he did. Sandy felt blood rushing in her ears and she started pushing herself again, and she was able to keep within ten feet of the guy for another lap and a half before she finally made herself stop.

Sandy walked slowly away from the track, clutching her side and trying not to wheeze too noticeably. She thought to herself that if this guy continued to show up when she came to run, she would be back in good shape sooner than she had previously predicted. After hobbling a safe distance away, she sank down in the grass and flopped over on her back, chest heaving, staring up at the evening sky. She heard someone, presumably the super athlete still out there making her look bad, call out, "you okay?" and she raised her arm and waved it by way of confirmation.

She lay there for a while, listening to the distant sounds of the guy running around the track and the wind rustling in the grass. After a while, she sat up and watched him run. It seemed like he noticed her watching, because he suddenly sped up and starting taking longer, more impressive-looking strides. Sandy felt kind of mystified by this, but continued to watch him lope around like a gazelle. He did another lap before slowing to a walk. He ambled around the track until he was near where Sandy was sitting, and headed in her direction.

A car horn honked, and they both jumped. Sandy turned and saw Jenny in the car, parked in the gravel parking lot. The guy abruptly changed directions and started walking towards the bench where had left his bottle. Sandy quickly got to her feet and made her way over to the car.

"Oh God, you're all sweaty," Jenny said as Sandy got in.

"Sorry. It's hot out there."

Jenny nodded in the direction of the guy, who was sitting on the bench, facing them, taking a long drink from his bottle. "Who's that?"

Sandy shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen anybody here before and he just showed up tonight."

"Kinda cute, huh?"

Sandy didn't answer, and the two girls squinted at the distant figure on the bench through the diminishing daylight. He put his bottle down on the bench, raised his hand, and waggled his fingers at them. "Oh, shit. He sees us. Go go go," Sandy said. Jenny threw the car in reverse, turned it around and backed out of the parking lot.

Once they were on the street and headed home, Jenny said, "was I wrong?"

"About what?"

"That guy. He was pretty cute, wasn't he?"

"I guess so." Sandy shrugged. "He was mostly just a lot better than me at running."

Jenny laughed. "Did you talk to him? I think it would be good for you to meet a nice guy here. Will thinks so, too."

Sandy scoffed. "Will thinks that? I thought he got the whole scoop from my parents, and I'm pretty sure they'd sooner I become a nun."

"Well, that's not entirely true. He thinks you're more grown-up than your parents do, and so I think it was a good idea for you to come out here. It'll be good for everybody. Plus it'll be nice to have another girl around." She grinned over at Sandy. "Now, answer my question. Did you talk to that guy?"

"No," Sandy said. "I think he was coming over to talk to me before you showed up, though."

Jenny let out a little hooting sound. "I guess I should have waited." She suddenly glanced over at Sandy with an odd expression on her face.

"What?" Sandy said, startled.

"Do you want ice cream? Or something? Do we have to go home straight away?"

Sandy shook her head. "We can get ice cream. What's going on?"

Jenny gulped. "I gotta tell you something. It's nothing bad," she said, noticing the worried look on Sandy's face. "I just have to tell somebody or I'll lose my mind."

Jenny drove them around until she found an ice cream truck and parked down the street from it. Sandy ordered a chocolate cone and Jenny got, speaking quietly and somewhat embarrassedly, "the same what she has, but bigger, if you can." Afterwards, they sat down on the curb next to the car.

Several moments of silence passed before Sandy said, "so...?"

"Oh." Jenny licked at a river of melting chocolate ice cream streaming off of her large cone. "So, I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I've been feeling pretty off lately and I think it's affected the way I act around you and Will." She paused, looking over at Sandy, who shrugged. "Right. Obviously, there's a reason for that, and..." she took a deep breath. "It's that I'm pregnant."

Sandy suddenly felt like an idiot. Of course that was why. "That's great," she said, and then paused, considering. "Wait, is it great?"

Jenny looked surprised by the question and then laughed. "It is. It's perfect. I'm just... I'm worried about how Will's gonna react."

"Why?" Sandy asked, but she knew exactly why. Will had never seemed like the paternal type, but he'd been crazy about Jenny since they were teenagers. Having kids was the logical next step, but Sandy knew as well as anyone that it wasn't everyone's ultimate goal.

"It's... well, it's complicated." Jenny sighed. "We've talked about having kids, but that was in the future. He's so busy with school and I'm just getting to a place at work where I feel like all the other teachers are starting to respect me a little bit. Technically it's not a great time, but..." she breathed in deeply and grinned over at Sandy. "I'm honestly really excited."

Sandy let out the breath she had been holding in as Jenny finished speaking. She bit off a piece of her cone and chewed thoughtfully. "When are you due? When do you think you'll tell Will?"

"March," Jenny said. "And I don't know. I didn't think I'd be able to keep it a secret for as long as I have, but for someone who's going to be a doctor, you know, he's not that perceptive." They both laughed, and then Jenny sighed again and quietly attacked her ice cream cone. "I'm glad I finally told somebody. I mean, my mom knows, but she's not—she's not here, you know?"

"Right." Sandy considered, with a small twinge of guilt, the fact that Jenny was alone out in Minnesota, too. Her family was all in Everett, and as far as Sandy knew, she rarely saw them. "I'm really happy for you, Jenny. This is gonna be great for you and Will. You shouldn't be afraid to tell him. He loves you so much. He'd be nuts to not be ready to start a family with you."

Jenny put her head down abruptly, nearly smushing her forehead into her ice cream. "That's... that's really nice," she said, her voice choked.

When they got home about a half an hour later, Will was sitting at the kitchen table, absently scratching his chin with the inked end of a pen, poring over a folder of papers. He got to his feet when they came in, moving across the room to peck Jenny on the cheek. "How was the school?"

"Do you know that you have pen all over your face?" Sandy asked. Jenny laughed, and Will licked his finger and rubbed it on his chin, inspecting the resulting smear of ink with alarm.

"Oh, hell," he said, running into the kitchen, and they heard the tap running a moment later.

Jenny caught Sandy's eyes and jerked her head in the direction of the hallway. Understanding, Sandy made herself scarce. She disappeared into the bathroom, turning the shower on and climbing in as she heard, distantly, the sound of Jenny asking Will to sit down and talk.

Sandy made a conscious effort to clean her ears well in an attempt to block out any residual sound that wasn't drowned out by the shower. As she climbed out and toweled off, she could still hear the low murmur of their voices coming from the kitchen. Suddenly Will's rose sharply, followed by a loud, high pitched laugh that Sandy had never heard from him before. "Are you serious?" his voice rang out, loud and clear. "I can't—Jay, I'm so—I love you. Jesus, really, I'm so sorry I didn't..." he voice lowered once again to a murmur and Sandy grinned, rubbing a towel vigourously over her wet hair.

A few moments later, hearing the that voices had died down, Sandy stuck her head out of the bathroom, cautiously checking if she could creep back across the hallway to her bedroom. Will and Jenny were standing in the hallway, and Sandy jumped. "Jesus, guys," she said.

Will had a dazedly happy expression on his face. "We have something to tell you, Sandy," he said. "It's big."

"Is it okay if I put some clothes on?" Sandy asked.

He shook his head. "No."

Jenny elbowed him and he looked down at her like this was the most romantic gesture in the world. "Let her get dressed. Don't be a maniac."

Sandy was eventually allowed to get dressed, and once she was, she joined Will and Jenny in the living room, sinking down in an armchair across from them on the couch. She assumed by the look on Will's face that he thought he was the first person in the house to hear the good news, and so she prepared herself to look surprised.

Will folded his hands in his lap, looked over at Jenny, and grinned. "We have some very exciting news," he said, reminding Sandy, somewhat uncomfortably, of her father. "There's going to be another member of this household soon."

Sandy blinked, and, knowing what the news actually was, thought that this was an odd way of revealing it. "Are you having someone move in to the other bedroom?" she asked, and Jenny looked like she was about to laugh.

"Nope," Will said, shaking his head. He put his hand on Jenny's shoulder. "We're having a baby."

"A baby?" Sandy said, widening her eyes and putting a hand to her cheek. "You guys! That's great!" She stood up and wrapped Will in a hug, thinking his not being able to see her face would be an advantage. Over Will's shoulder, Jenny flashed Sandy a thumbs up.

Will clapped his hands together. "Let's have a drink to celebrate. Well," he said, shaking his head at Jenny. "Not you, obviously. I think I have a bottle of champagne somewhere in the house—let's have some, Sandy."

Jenny frowned. "Why do you have champagne? Nobody ever told me you were so fancy."

Will flapped a hand at her and went off to find it. Jenny turned to Sandy once he was gone and grinned. "Thanks for pretending," she said. "He asked if you knew and he seemed so excited to get to see your reaction."

As Sandy sipped Will's mysterious champagne and listened to he and Jenny excitedly talk about plans for the baby, she felt giddily excited for them. Considering how indifferent she had felt about the two of them before moving in, this felt like a step towards having a real relationship with the only family Sandy could have a relationship with. She was oddly thrilled to feel at home somewhere again, and her prior worries, momentarily at least, faded into the background. She didn't think about Ray, or creepy Mr. Lawson, or being in an unfamiliar state. She certainly didn't think about the super-athlete from the track.

Meanwhile, in an apartment complex somewhere else in Burnsville, John "Bah" Harrington clattered into the apartment he shared with Mark Pavelich and Mark Wells and tossed his water bottle into the sink. Phil Verchota and Buzz Schneider were there as well, nursing beer on the couch with the Marks and solemnly watching the news. "Whatcha been doin', Bah?" Phil called as Bah rooted in the fridge for a beer of his own.

He twisted the top off and stood next to the couch. "I was just down at the track for a while. You guys just been sitting around drinking my beer?"

"Our beer," Pav corrected.

"Ours, fine," Bah agreed.

Phil stood up and stretched. "We thought we were gonna go see a band downtown, but Buzzy got the nights wrong, so that's what we're doing tomorrow night instead." He grinned over at Buzz, who threw his hands up helplessly.

"I can hardly keep track of what day it is. I'm so tired." He yawned, as if to prove this.

"Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know," Phil said. "How is it that you're able to go running on top of everything else that we're doing, Bah? Is that not maybe an indication that you're not working hard enough for Herbie?"

Bah rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm thinking that's probably it."

"Isn't it kinda sad to be out there all by yourself?"

"I wasn't by myself tonight," Bah said. "There was a girl there tonight."

Phil raised his eyebrows and exchanged a look with Buzz. "That so? Were you able to beat her out there? Was she cute?"

Bah grinned and answered both questions at once. "Yeah."